After he ordered the killing of Osama bin Laden, can Barack Obama be a role model for black kids?

Browsing my local South London paper this morning, I read that Barack Obama had been invited to visit a Peckham primary school during his state visit this week. He declined, but the reason council chiefs sent an invitation to the White House is clear enough: the president is considered a positive role model, particularly for black school children in communities like Peckham.

But I have just one question: in light of the execution of Osama bin Laden, is the President of the United States still such a good role model for these kids? In a borough where there have been 192 reports of gun crime in the last 12 months, and where "informal justice" reigns, I’m not so sure. The complexities of the War on Terror are lost on primary school children – but most will understand the concept of revenge killings.

For youngsters, who don’t follow US politics and who certainly have no understanding of a “state visit”, Obama is now best known for ordering the killing of bin Laden. And there are some who will now admire the US President's achievement: having his worst enemy killed with a single shot to the face and then buried in the ocean.

The execution was like a scene from a computer game. My 13–year-old brother told me that many of his school friends are "addicted to killing people" while playing Call of Duty (the controversial computer game) and he felt that it was not a good influence on them, mainly because the sniper rifles, sub-machine guns and handguns used in the game – the exact models – exist in real life, which fuels the fascination further.

You might believe that the execution of bin Laden was justified, but, like a computer game, does it in some way send an unintended message to gun-obsessed young men? That violent retribution leads to glory and high-fives all round.